Mobile is supporting the rise of VR, 360 and Live video in Canada

The unstoppable rise in mobile usage is fueling video growth, according to a AOL’s new State of the Industry: Mobile Video Report, released just ahead of Mobile World Congress 2017. Findings from the new global research study, conducted in seven markets including Canada, show that 43% of Canadian consumers watch videos on a mobile phone every day. With 68% of consumers saying they can’t live without their smartphone or always have it within arm’s reach, we are approaching the tipping point where mobile will eventually be the number one video screen.

A boom in short-form video. Consumers are watching more and more digital video each year, but consumption of short-form video is rising at an even faster pace. Nearly one in three (30%) Canadians watch videos for five minutes or less every day on their smartphone (compared to 42% globally).

Mobile is driving VR and Live video. The rate at which consumers are adopting immersive video formats varies around the world. When it comes to live video in Canada, 49% of consumers watch live video on their smartphones, and 28% of consumers expect to spend more time watching Live video this year. 34% of Canadian consumers watch VR on their smartphones (compared to 28% in the US and 29% in the UK), while only 9% expect to spend more time watching VR in the next 12 months (compared to 31% of US consumers and 9% of UK consumers).

Mobile spend is going up. The industry is set to keep pace with consumer demands this year - continuing to increase spend in mobile video.In Canada, both advertisers and publishers are increasing spend on mobile. 36% of advertisers expect to increase mobile ad spend by at least 25% in 2017 (compared to 47% globally). On the other side of the coin, 53% of publishers expect mobile ad spend to increase by at least 25% in 2017 (compared to 57% globally).

Advertisers are funding this increase in mobile video by shifting more and more money away from TV budgets. In fact, we found that 53% of advertisers are shifting over 10% of their budgets to digital channels - 73% are shifting their TV budgets to digital (online) video, while 54% are shifting their TV budgets to mobile video.

Challenges for mobile video. As mobile continues to grow, there are still a number of key challenges facing the industry. 42% of advertisers in Canada say their top challenge with mobile video is ad blocking - higher than any other country in the survey, followed by quality of consumer experience at 37% and quality of content/creative at 32% .